Life After the Baja, and Onward to the East Coast
La Jefa and us easily made it back over into the states at the San Luis border crossing. From there, we hoofed it to Phoenix, where we boarded a direct flight back to Kelowna, so we could deal with the renters the following day. It was bitter sweet, our renters were moving out sooner than we had hoped, but now the 70’s house is officially ours again, and we no longer have to rent it out. The universe was kind to us, as we found a house sitter, that we trust, to watch over it while we are away! 🙏🏻 It was a whirlwind quick trip with only 6 full days in Canada. We dealt with Adam’s dead truck ($$New Battery$$), cleaning and furnishing the house, and trying to see a few friends. The kids did not want to leave, as it was so great to see their Omie and friends and play with their lego sets once again.
Now in New Mexico, there were a few things I wanted to see. White Sands National Park, Roswell, and Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Both parks were super interesting and I would recommend them both. Roswell and the UFO museum is an okay place, but it felt like we just went there to check off that box. It somehow lacked authenticity for me. The whole town is in on the alien theme, even the McDonald’s was shaped like a flying saucer. The event that made Roswell famous in 1947 did raise a few questions, but the way it is presented and depicted at the museum left much to be desired.
Visiting White Sands National Park was the better part of a day, as we hit up the vistor centre, learned about how the white sands came to be (Gypsum rock is eroded by wind and weather), and went out to enjoy them first hand. Wow! The sand is cold!!! And it feels like that all year round. It’s powdery sand, softer than the National Sand dunes in Colorado. It stays moist too, so you can form snowballs. The kids had a blast jumping off the 20/30 feet dunes into the steep slopes below. A few hours hiking around and we were all spent.
Now the Carlsbad Caverns are something out of this world. They were so deep, dark, expansive, with rock formations growing from the ground and ceiling. Formations both large and small, massive and slender, pedunculated and conical, rough and smooth. It took us 3 hours to walk the two pathways (under ground the entire time) before taking the elevator back up. When it reached the basement to take us to the surface the bottom floor was 755 feet deep. These caverns are almost as deep as the Empire State Building in NYC. The air smelled musty and cool. So much to describe, and yet I don’t have the right words in my vocabulary, so I guess you will just have to check it out for yourself. I do feel that I want to come back and see more of New Mexico, without the kids, like Santa Fe and the more northern places. It feels like I would enjoy/embrace this state more, given more time, next time!
Leaving NM, we headed east thru Texas. West Texas is flat with nothing but oil derrick pumps and cruid oil tanks. Took us five plus hours to get out of this scenery and into some better landscape. We booked our next three nights at Guadalupe River State Park. Here we enjoyed the larger, treed campsites, and could spread out with our hammocks and chairs for a few days. The previous days in NM were spent boondocking with no services and no privacy. I’m not complaining as they were free nights, but I am happy to pay for some better surroundings. We are still using our Apps- ioverlander, and campdium, but we are finding that the State Parks are where it is at. It’s low season here now, so we are able to get spots easily and they are more afforable during the week days.
I have started training for a 10km run. I needed motivation to get active, besides the daily routines. The bike rides and hikes with the kids are not bringing out the sweat. I mean my bike has power which I use frequently, and without having access to showers regularly, I have been using that as an excuse. Well no more… I am training. This week in Texas has been my first…. and it’s always harder to climb back up on the bandwagon… Wish me luck!
Update on the kids…. Wyatt, I think is better lately as he can see the end is in sight. He has been homesick a few times, before we went home in January. Gibson on the other hand, says he is fine as long as he is with us, however; he does suffer from some anxieties and it seems like they are rearing their ugly heads more and more. Not sure what this is about, but hoping we can work thru them. Back to counselling when we get home for sure.
Adam, well I am happy to report that he got rid of that mangy mess he called a beard! It was so unruly and would make him look like a homeless person in the mornings with it sticking out this way and that. I told him to either cut it, or do some man scaping. So, unbeknownst to me, he shows up with his beard trimmed after a shower last night. He told me happy early Valentines Day! I’ll take it!
We moved on from Guadalupe River park to Mustang Island State Park, just north of Padre Island. Here it was hot and muggy. You could feel the moisture in the air. The Atlantic Ocean is called the Gulf of Mexico here, and it definitely seems exploited. By that, I mean you see dozens of oil rigs off the coast, overall smaller shells and the water seems dirty. Now the sand is probably the reason for the murky color, but it was never like that on the Pacific side, so it’s hard not to compare. This side of the coast is way more inhabited, so you can’t help but think that it has its effects on the environment. Plus, they don’t recycle here (or at least the state parks where we have been) :( . Surprisingly, most of the states have been very poor in that regard. Very few campgrounds that offer places to dispose of recycling.
We went to try our hand at fishing on two man-made granite/rock piers/jetty in the park. Gibson did only one cast, as shortly after he was lost looking between the boulders for treasures. Here we found lots of garbage, but also two or three fishing lures, many bobbers, weights, and Wyatt even found 2 pairs of pliers. Our best find was a trapped turtle. We rescued it and it was a true highlight. The following days we went back daily to check the piers for what was trapped between the rocks. Gibson my little treasure hunter!
We have now come to a boondocking place outside Galveston (near Houston) and are parked on the beach. In our journey thru Texas I can truly say that the phrase everything is bigger in Texas might just be somewhat true. The roads, infastructure, oil plants, electricity plants, farms, trucks, RV’s and political signs are all bigger! I’m not against Texas, I am just finding with more populated areas, I don’t like the landscapes as much. This might be the same going up the east coast as places are more densly populated, but I hope not. A local told me that there is very little public land in Texas, and almost all of it is privately owned. This might be why there is not as much natural landscape, and more development. I do want to say, things I am happy about are the cost of gas for us is less than 1$ CAD a litre ($2.65-2.99/gal USD), and food is cheaper as well. We are also excited for the ability to see some really cool museums coming up, along with NASA tomorrow. Eeek!
Actually, I need to give a great shout out to the State Parks. They are huge, well organized, super friendly, all have nature centers and allow people to really explore and enjoy them. I am jealous of how well they are organized and their ease of use, even to book camping online. Good Job Texas!
Last thing to mention, we have made some plans for our next 2 months. Wyatt’s bucket list is to go to some bike and rock climbing places, while Gibson wants to see how grandious NYC is. So we have okayed these and are working them into the itinerary, while working our way home for mid/end of April. As for the budget…. I just dropped that task. Mexico was cheaper- we spent around $8,000 CAD for 5-6 weeks. So that was a plus, but going back into the USA, I am tired of not liking the numbers. I will rebalance them when I get home.🙈
Talk to you guys soon! Hugs
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